The Apocalypse
by Seto'swhiterose
Summary: (Dedicated to Yami'skoi, one-shot, YamixYugi) The earth is in ruin. The world seems to be dying upon Yami and Yugi. In the face of death, hidden feelings are brought to life to end an eternity’s worth of longing


Title: "The Apocalypse"

Summary: YamixYugi. (we assume the year is 2020, takes place in Japan.) The earth is in ruin. Yugi and Yami are the only people left in their old town, and the world seems to be dying upon them. In the face of death, hidden feelings are brought to life to end an eternity's worth of longing.

Rating: T for Teen

Category: Romance/Angst

Dedication: To yami'skoi, happy birthday to you! (sings) Sorry... Well, have fun with it! I based it on some topics you are sure to love, I hope you do! Yaoi-goodness…yay!

Authoress Notes: Well, this took a long time to write, and I admit that it's a little out there, but I think you'll like it! Enjoy! If anyone else is reading this, please drop a review to tell me what you think! But people, this is a one-shot, so no Chapter Two, sorry!

Warning: Contains yaoi, but no lemons or anything. Extremely mild blood, but some mentions of suicide. Not really heavy for y'all, practically one paragraph, but just in case anyone was interested, it's still in here. That's all!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh…why doesn't anyone know this? And the quote at the end is not mine either…it belongs to the person mentioned beneath it!

**The Apocalypse**

Yami found it amazing how fast the time went by. Hours seemed to slip into days, and then days into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. He didn't know how to measure the years anymore because he felt them sneaking by him in mere minutes. But that didn't make sense at all, did it? Minutes passed into hours, not years.

And yet, how many years had it been since the sky began to turn an odd black color? Nine, maybe ten? No…surely it had been shorter. He thought two, maybe three. But when he looked at the calendar he saw the numbers in black and white, plain as day.

Ten years since the sky stopping reflecting the shade of blue. Now it was always night, always dark, and there was little light ever shed on the crumpled city of Domino. And when we say crumpled, we mean it. The buildings had long been laid to waste by wrecking balls and the war that raged ten years ago. Had there been any textbooks left, the date and facts would have rung in the ears of thousands of children to come, The Great Nuclear War of 2010. Yami could see the chapter titles.

Yami sighed from his view on the city. He was standing in Seto Kaiba's own Kaiba Corp. building on the top floor. Kaiba had long since escaped the ruined town, practically being dragged by Joey, his lover, (Yugi had been the only one not surprised about their love). However, Kaiba had left clear instructions to Yami telling him that no matter what happened his building was to be kept unharmed.

"As long as you insist on remaining in this godforsaken town, Yami, you might as well serve a purpose," Kaiba had said, looking down on him and piercing Yami's very soul with the sapphire eyes that were so painful to look at in these days when they reminded everyone so much of how the Old Sky looked. Yami had thought that once the sky turned black, Seto's eyes would have to follow, but they had not. Throughout it all Kaiba remained the strong one with his eyes of blue that could kill with a glance.

Anyway, Kaiba had looked down on him with his billowing trench coat shaking steadily in the wind, Joey and Mokuba clinging to his shoulders urging him to come on already. Kaiba ignored them for the moment and said, "I'm serious, Yami. This building is not to be put in any danger. You may live in it, but I expect you to take absolute care of it. Understood?" His eyes deprived Yami of dignity until Yami felt naked.

"I understand, Kaiba. Now go." Seto nodded and turned away, relieving Yami of his strip-search. Joey and Mokuba hugged Yami and they said their good-byes, hoping deep in their hearts that this wasn't the last time they would see the King of Games. Surely not. The world could survive a little while longer just so they could keep being friends, so everyone could live for just a little while longer.

But that had been six years ago. In his mind, Yami saw the three figures fading against the black sky, never to return again.

Now there was indeed talk of the "end of the world" in what was left of it. Yami cursed the war and the bombs they used. Of course "they" were all dead now, but that didn't suffice his rage.

The thing that angered Yami the very most he knew as he looked out on the rubble of Solomon's game shop, the turtle head scattered on the ground like a piece of trash, was the fact that Yugi, his very light, had lost everything. All of his friends besides Joey and Kaiba, (if he could consider Kaiba a friend), had died in warfare, (Joey would have died too had it not been for Kaiba to keep him from signing straight into the war). Every single one of them. All dead. One letter of consolation for Tristan's death, one for Tèa, one for Solomon himself, one for Duke Devlin, one for Bakura, and even one for little Rebecca who had designed some of the machinery used to destroy the world.

Yugi just wasn't the same, his once brilliant purple eyes shone with sadness not joy, his fluffy, fragile heart was broken. Yami couldn't even begin to describe how his own heart died seeing the boy like this.

The Pharaoh had failed. Miserably. His mission was to save the world, protect his hikari from all danger and death. It seemed the opposite of that had occurred. And what had he done to stop it? Nothing.

_There was nothing I could do_…Yami thought. His brain was split into two halves fighting for dominance on the subject. _The world was exploding! _

_What is a Pharaoh's responsibility? _The other side asked. _Protect! Bring peace or war whenever needed! And what have you done to honor your duties? Nothing! Your light has abandoned you, now. You have nothing!_

There was no argument against that. Yugi had abandoned him soon after Yami moved into the Kaiba Corp. building. Yami searched for him every day, trying to find where his hikari hid, (there were not a lot of self-sustaining places in the town, and the "two Yugis" were practically the only people left besides a few others crazed from the sheer decline of their lives, so where could he possibly be?). Not once had he found even the slightest clue.

He wished more than anything that Yugi would come to him again. He had come to accept the fact that he loved his hikari, even if it was wrong. What was wrong anymore? The world was dying.

Yami knew how it was to feel the brusque side of love before he felt the soothing side of it. He knew the feeling when he needed his hikari so desperately he was willing to jeopardize the world for him. Do anything. He knew the feeling when he got so lonely in the gigantic office building that the underside of his arms ached with longing for his reincarnation's body. He longed to feel the soft slenderness of Yugi's body pressed against his own more muscular body in a silent embrace, a meal of warmth for Yami's eternal emptiness.

But that was never going to happen, he knew. Yugi was lost in the rubble of Domino City. And no matter how hard he tried, the Pharaoh was never going to find him.

A crinkled piece of newspaper flew past the wall-length window of Kaiba's old office. Fleetingly, he caught the words on it: "Signs of the Apocalypse…"

Yami almost laughed when he saw such things preaching the end of the world. To him, life had already ended. The world was already over. What was there for him to live for? He considered this every day of his life. With no one by his side and nothing to survive for except a 100-floored deserted building, Yami didn't really convince himself of much.

The Pharaoh stayed by the window for another half an hour. Then he decided to search for something he was never going to find: A reason to live.

Not long before Kaiba left, he installed a bedroom in the place to insure safety when it was too dangerous to travel the streets. This way, he could almost live in the building and have a decent place to sleep every night. (Yugi and Yami had agreed this was an idea that solely Kaiba would think of, but they didn't know how useful it would be to Yami in the future). Now that bedroom served as Yami's, and in a way, it was the one place of serenity he had to retreat to. Sleep brought comfort; a way out of life's suffering for a few hours.

This room was his destination as he left the once-extravagant office. He peered into its doorway, looking at the lack of design the room had, (one large bed for Kaiba and Joey in its hey-day, blue walls, gray carpet, one wooden night stand, and a picture on the wall opposite the bed of a garden. Kaiba never really liked gardens, but Joey had insisted that it was a reminder of how things were before the Great War, so there it hung). He loved every inch of it regardless.

A mirror hung on the door to the room, a full-length on which you could see yourself from the top of your spiked hair to the carpet beneath your shoes. Yami loved and hated this mirror, as he hated and loved his own self. The shame of it all. For how many times had he gazed into this mirror and wished the image to be that of someone else, someone who looked oh so much like Yami, but not exactly? If Yami tried hard enough, he could see it. See himself and yet himself as the person he wanted to be. So not himself. So different but so similar.

But what happened sometimes, (not all the time, but sometimes), in front of that mirror was strictly confidential. The shame of it all.

Yami sighed and closed his deep purple eyes slowly as memories rushed back to him of Yugi's leaving. (They could pop up at him for no reason.)

_"I can't take the pain anymore, Yami. I have to go." Yugi was wearing a long coat and stood by the revolving doors of Kaiba Corp. The apathy in his expression when he told his yami this was enough to frighten even the strongest of men. Anyone could tell that the last of the boy had died along with his old life. _

_"Yugi! We'll get through this together, as one body like we were meant. Do not leave me…" Yami had practically begged him, his eyes wide with care, love, and fear. Why would Yugi want to leave?_

_Yugi shook his shaggy head that looked all too much like Yami's own. "Not this time, Yami. Some things just don't last…" Yugi thought for a moment and gazed out through the cracked glass doors. "Nothing lasts…good-bye, Yami."_

_And he left, walked out the door with Yami in close follow, grabbing at his coat trying to talk sense into him. But the boy was unreachable…lost in the depths of his own pain and synthesized shell. _

_Going…going…Gone. _

Yami had followed him for as long as he could, but Yugi began to run. Eventually the Yugi ripped off the chain around his neck and literally threw his puzzle at Yami, hitting him smack in the face with his own tomb. Yami had caught the puzzle just before it hit the floor, which would have been the end of Yami for the rest of eternity. It took Yugi to rebuild the puzzle and if it had been scattered into pieces, Yami would have ceased to exist.

Needless to say, when Yami looked again after Yugi, the boy was gone. Forever.

Now he kept the Senin Puzzle in the first drawer of the night table, which remained locked at all times during the day and night. Yami couldn't look at it anymore, it reminded him too much of his love. Sometimes he felt that his heart was swimming in a river of oil, drenched in a black, poisonous liquid, soiled by an illicit and yet still unrequited love. Never to be clean again. The puzzle just deepened the river, it seemed.

But on this day, Yami removed the key to the drawer from his pocket and made a decision. One thing to live for…just one…he needed it right then.

He traversed the worn out carpet, (worn from who knew what Kaiba and Joey had been doing in this same room), and reached the small table before him. It was built in dark wood, but Yami could almost see the glow of the puzzle through the drawer. But that was silly, for the puzzle had ceased to glow at all. It never would until Yugi showed up again. So Yami figured his days of watching the eerie glow and elevation of the puzzle were completely over.

But he opened the drawer anyway and to his expectation, the puzzle was not glowing. Curse his mind, playing such tricks on him…these days nothing was real. But he almost believed…almost…

He delved into the depths of the drawer for his golden prize. His hands touched something freezing cold with ridges carved into all sides by an expert hand. And of course, the Senin Eye molded onto the front of it.

At the mere touch of his tomb, Yami withdrew back for a moment. So much pain…why had the gods cursed him like this? He took a moment to regroup and then placed his hands again on the small pyramid, firmer this time. Slowly, cautiously, he removed the puzzle from the drawer.

Solid gold met deep purple. A shine of the richest metal lit up his vision that had been used only in the darkness of the sky for so long. The puzzle's familiar gleam flashed tentatively in the dismal lighting of the room.

Yami's own mouth dropped substantially at the sight of it. How long had it been? Too long. That was the only answer for it. He hadn't realized how much he missed the puzzle's shape and shine, it gave him a sense of self—for the puzzle was the symbol of his rebirth as a spirit. He remembered vaguely a time when the gift of reincarnation had seemed like a blessing, (now it seemed so much like a plague).

Yami scanned the item for any sign of difference. There was none. That meant the very tip of the puzzle, the point of culmination on the very tip of his very tomb, was still just as sharp as always. Very sharp…

A creamy fingertip hesitantly touched the pin-point edge. A short gasp could be heard and Yami pulled away. One single drop of blood appeared on the skin. A tiny pain, but enough for the Pharaoh to remember what it was like to truly live. Sure, he was a spirit, but the gods had given him a true body of flesh and blood. He felt pain and was totally mortal. He thanked all beings in charge of this for what he was about to do.

The thought came to him in one fluid motion. Why not? What was there else to do any more? It seemed so simple…sleep was the only thing keeping him sane…why not sleep forever?

Sure, maybe this would be the ultimate failure, the coward's way out. But it was the only way. Like Yugi said before he left, "I can't take the pain anymore. I have to go."

Breathing evenly, acting totally sane, (the split hemispheres of his mind strangely gone in this decisive argument), Yami exposed his wrist to the golden point. In his mind he imagined the pain, but how little would it hurt? Not as much as he did now. Not nearly as much.

He raised the puzzle over the thin, vulnerable flesh. Should he close his eyes or not? What did it matter? It did…he would leave them open, see what happened.

The point touched the side of his arm. Slowly…very slowly, obtaining the full effect, he dragged it across when—Suddenly, (so suddenly it was enough to make Yami jump up immediately and nearly drop the puzzle itself), the Senin Item began to glow vividly, forcing life into the room, and levitated itself in Yami's hand, making him rise into a standing position.

"What the hell?" His heart was beating rapidly, too fast almost. He couldn't understand it, why was it glowing? He was sure he was never going to see this sight again, that was an obvious thing…

It could only mean one thing. Yugi. Yugi…Yugi?

Footsteps pounded through the hallway. Someone was definitely coming. Yami could not leave the room fast enough. In fact, he tripped over himself on the way out of Kaiba's office.

But when the door to the waiting room burst open, Yami was at first discouraged. For he thought he was looking into the mirror again. He saw himself staring back at him with a flushed face and hair disarray. At first, this was all his mind recognized—you're looking into the mirror, seeing yourself and wishing…wishing…

However this person was slightly shorter than Yami himself, with hair that was ever so dissimilar. The eyes were rounder, not has sharp, a lighter shade of purple. And there was life in them. A vibrancy that could not be described in any way to someone that hadn't seen them. It was like, there was life there, but it was shadowed by something else. Too much of something…Yami couldn't be sure what exactly it was.

And of course, the body in front of him was wearing a torn brown trench coat.

"Yugi…" Yami practically whimpered out.

"Yami!" The high voice, the excitement. Had to be his aibou. His aibou!

"Yugi!"

"Y…Yami!"

Just has Yami was about to proclaim, "Yugi!" one more time, his light took the liberty of running over and hugging the Pharaoh. Not a small hug, either.

The quickness with which Yugi decided to move, caught the Pharaoh off-guard. He actually began to pull away at first. But Yugi's grip on him was too strong, he held him fast. Then Yami adjusted and let it happen.

Pure bliss. The eternal ache on his arms subsided slowly. A moment to last forever…why not?

"Yami, I am so sorry! I'm sorry…I'm sorry! I'm sorry I left you. I was stupid to think I could possibly escape all the emotions this place has for me. I was so stupid. I'm sorry Yami, please forgive me!" Yugi began sobbing into Yami's hard chest, his own relief poured out in liquid tears into toned flesh.

Yami ran his hands up and down Yugi's back, both of them relishing in such simple touch. "There is nothing to forgive, Aibou." He tried to console his lover as best he could. Of course, Yami had needed to hear the words "I'm sorry" pour out of Yugi's mouth in gushing romance, but he did not let on to this. He still wasn't sure of Yugi's true feelings…love of a lover or love of a brother?

Yugi removed his face from the caverns of Yami's chest. His lavender eyes gazed into Yami's violet, tears staining a beautiful face. "Yami…" he said. "I…I realized something when I was out there in America." So that's where his light had hid, in Golden Country. Yami wondered if it was still as golden as it was proclaimed to be in Japan.

"What was that, Yugi?" Yami was in the process of stroking Yugi's face ever-so lightly with the interior of his thumb. A pained smile was spread on his lips, his mind telling him to show the happiness in him, even if he had forgotten how to smile fully.

Yugi closed his eyes in enjoyment of Yami's soft caresses. Then he stammered out, "Well…I…can't…live without you!"

And without warning Yugi closed the short distance between their lips. Two soft, boyish mouths met with a colliding smack that sent two male hearts flying higher than the blackness of the sky. Although Yami's eyes were closed, he could see Yugi's small body in front of him, some new scars on the boy's body from who knew what happened in America. The vision was not clouded by darkness, but embellished in light. The light from their love. A feeling Yami was beginning to understand as mutual.

Even though Yugi's lips tasted like pure cream, Yami soon found out that his tongue tasted like pure sugar. A wet provocation in Yami's mouth to guide him out of the depression that made his days darker than the world around them. A depression that had driven him to the point on the Puzzle. One that was forgotten immediately at the contact of Yugi's small tongue.

So fleetingly we experience the best moments of our lives. In what seemed like no time, the two were parting again, staring at each other in an unfamiliar awkwardness that occurred only at the end of such ecstasy.

Yami sighed softly, blowing his fresh, warm breath into Yugi's newly sensitive skin, pitching nerves on spikes. "Where have you been, my light?" he asked exasperated.

Yugi pulled out of the hug and looked at the floor. Yami began to truly see what the past five years away from his home had done to him, not only physically, but mentally as well. Yami could see it all in a way that Yugi did not have to explain. Horrors of a dying country, millions of dying lives etched into Yugi's young mind.

"Never mind," Yami said and took his love again in his arms. Yugi relaxed immediately. The exchange of words is sometimes needless when two people know each other by heart. Yami did not have to ask what Yugi had been doing, and Yugi could figure out exactly what Yami had been doing by the way he stood, the way his body felt. Both of them liked it this way.

They shared a few more burning kisses before they realized how much time was wasted in the years when they thought it was wrong to love this way. The magnitudes of their affections were felt too strongly to have been sudden. They both knew how long each had suffered pining after the other. Years. Yami truly felt the time that had passed him by before when he could not understand its quickness. He had been hibernating, waiting out the winter until Yugi returned to him. Now that sleep was over. All that was left was a memory, a shadow of the pain blazoned in Yami's brain, but not given any mind to. Just the kisses…just the kisses.

A crash was heard from the window. The two broke their kiss to see what it was disturbing them.

The sky was no longer black. The clouds in it were parting to reveal a blinding white sunshine. It was obvious what was happening.

Yami cursed it all. Just when he reunited with his lover, the world had to end. Just as he was happy, it all had to stop being. It wasn't fair.

Yugi scurried to the window. "This is it! Oh my God! This is the end of the world!" He scrambled back to the embrace of his lover.

"Yes…" Yami noticed how scared his light was. It was not the time for hate and anger. He should be grateful for their time together, however brief it was. He needed to be strong for his hikari even if he didn't feel strong. "But we have each other, Yugi. There is nothing to fear."

Yugi searched Yami's eyes for betrayal of what he had just said, but there was none. Yami had relaxed his emotions and let a calm feeling envelop them.

One more kiss…

They pulled away and felt the earth beneath them rumbling, ready to break under the pressure of the previous years of torture.

Yugi looked at Yami. "The end?" he asked.

The Pharaoh nodded. "The end."

But even as they died, as the earth died with their bodies, they found it hard to be angry at anyone. For the world isn't made entirely of bad people. This fact was obvious in the eternal embrace their lives subsided within.

Years later, life will begin again. Over the bodies of lovers and their progressive lives.

The rose of life and love cannot be nipped in the bud of destruction. It merely starts over in an endless circle. Waiting for the next generation…

_"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity."  
_**Henry Van Dyke**

A/N: Ok, I feel this was clichéd at the end. But it was a nice ending, wasn't it? I mean, for a kind of depressing story, it was a nice ending, yes? I hope so! I know I probably missed some editing mistakes here as I always do, but please forgive me! I've read and reread this story thousands of times it seems. I've tried my hardest! Also, I know I probably dragged the romance thing out a little too long there at the end, but I feel I needed to. Otherwise the story would have been too short, right? I don't know.

I also got the quote at the end from if anyone wants to check out the site, feel free, it is truly wonderful! I love it anyway…(glances around at people leaving).

Thank you for reading this! I love you all! And everyone wish Yami'skoi a happy birthday! Yay!

Until next we speak, all you readers and reviewers enjoy the rose of life.


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